German Vargas, one of Colombia’s most powerful and controversial politicians of the 21st century, has died at 64 after a long battle against cancer.
Vargas was born in 1962 into the Lleras dynasty as the grandson of former President Carlos Lleras, who ruled Colombia between 1966 and 1970.
The dynasty politician began his political career in 1981 when he was elected member of the municipal council of Bojaca, a tiny village locate 20 kilometers west of the capital Bogota.
Under the wing of liberal dissident Luis Carlos Galan, Vargas made it to the Bogota city council in 1988 where he stayed until his election to the Senate with the support of the traditional Liberal Party in 1994.
The senator became one of the most prominent opponents of peace talks between President Andres Pastrana and the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC between 1998 and 2001.
In 2002, Vargas abandoned the Liberal Party and became one of the most powerful supporters of President Alvaro Uribe in the Senate.
Together with other liberal dissidents, Vargas joined Cambio Radical in 2004, and became the center-right party’s director.
The party suffered major setbacks when criminal investigations revealed that Cambio Radical’s success in the 2006 elections was party due to its members ties to paramilitary organization AUC.
Multiple demobilized paramilitary commanders accused Vargas of seeking electoral gains with the AUC, but these allegations were never proven and the senator was absolved.
The politician has always denied ties to the AUC and has accused the paramilitaries of trying to assassinate him in 2005.
Vargas left the Senate in 2008, broke with Uribe and became President Juan Manuel Santos’ justice minister in 2010 after running for president without success.
The politician’s long-standing opposition to a negotiated end of the war with the FARC caused tensions inside the government after Santos announced peace talks in 2012.
Notwithstanding, Vargas stayed with Santos until 2017 when the politician decided to have another unsuccessful presidential run.
Vargas had significant health problems and retired from public life in February when he last published a column in newspaper El Tiempo.
